Bastards- Preoccupations
A few weeks ago Preoccupations shared a new single called "Bastards", which is the 2nd taste of their upcoming 5th LP, Ill At Ease. Like their last single, "Focus", "Bastards" finds the Calgary quartet playing with a lighter touch, filtering gothic pop and new wave into a somewhat airier composition that, while not exactly sedate, hardly bristle with the abrasive edge of their most celebrated work. What's particularly appealing about "Bastards" is how disarmingly melodic is is. The bright keyboard arpeggio, thick bassline, synth tremors, and sparse snare rhythm congeal into a momentum building progression with plenty of space for frontman Matt Flegel's crestfallen imagery to flourish before the music swells to welcome an infectious hook.
It's not that Preoccupations haven't showcased their melodic strengths in the past ("Continental Shelf", "Solace", "Unconscious Melody", etc) but "Focus" is striking for how unabashedly pretty it is and how it doesn't offset that beauty with any dissonant elements. This is easily the most immediate that Preoccupations have ever sounded. I didn't think Flegel was necessarily interested in writing hooks that are this easy on the ears, and it doesn't feel forced or noncommittal. As much as I miss the industrial-flecked nastiness of their early post-punk onslaughts, "Bastards" is an extremely promising shift for Preoccupations, and it'll be interesting to hear if they can pull off a full album of songs in this mold.